Tales of Shadow
by crusader 5643
Summary: An outsider from another world comes to Sylvarant, bringing not only a new creature to fear but a dark war that has been raging for centuries. May change to M later. Formerly known as Tales of Death
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone. Well, this is my first time doing a TOS fanfic, so I'm going to ask everyone to go easy on me since is my first try here. The events here are definitely going to be darker than some of those in the original game, but I will be following the plot most of the time. And no this is not a self insert.**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia, just my OC.**

**Outskirts of Palmacosta**

It was late at night when the Desian search party was looking through the woods trying to find an escapee exsphere victim. The whole thing was an annoying matter but they had to get him back or Martel knows what will happen to them.

"Honestly, one inferior being escapes the ranch and we all have to drag our asses just to find him and bring him back. They should just kill 'em all." One said

"Quiet. You know what Lord Magnius will do to us if we come back with a failure? He likes things to stay efficient."

"I'm just saying, it's a real pain in the ass to do this every time one gets out…" he would have continued but all of the sudden there was a huge surge of mana coming from a spot in the forest and then, a great explosion of fire flashed and the sound could be heard throughout Sylvarant.

"What the hell was that?!"

The search party quickly went over to the source of the blast to find a huge circular patch of scorched earth in the middle of the forest. All the trees were burnt to the ground and those that were just out of range had huge sections burnt out.

"What the hell caused this?"

"Magic of some sort?"

"This is no magic I've ever seen."

As they walked the grounds they noticed the circle had a design in the middle. A lion with two crossed swords beneath it and a sun over it. Around the design was strange writing.

"What does this mean?"

"Spread out and find what ever caused this!" the leader shouted.

The others gave a grunt of acknowledgement and fanned out.

In the woods two Desians were talking with each other.

"What the hell did that design mean? Better yet who created it?"

"Best guess would be a spell caster of some sort."

"What spell caster could incinerate an entire area like that? I'm telling you we should call for reinforcements…"

Suddenly there was a rustle from the brushes behind them.

The one Desian told his comrade to stay put and keep an eye out while he investigates. He slowly crept towards the brush, then quickly pulled it apart, only to find a rabbit quickly hopping away.

He chuckled "Heh. False alarm it was just a…" he turned around to find his partner was no longer there.

"W-wha…" he quickly stood up and picked up his weapon and wildly looked around, there were snapping branches and footsteps everywhere. He didn't notice the shadow that was creeping up on him until it was too late.

A terrified scream ripped out through the field and fell on the ears of the surrounding Desians. They quickly whipped their heads to the source and panicked whispers ran through them.

"What the hell was that?!"

"What's going on?!"

"What the hell did that?!"

"Stay calm!" the leader shouted "Ready your weapons and stay calm!"

They all grouped together in a formation, beads of sweat dripping in fear. For a while, nothing happened, then suddenly and without warning, two shadowy arms sprung from the thicket of trees and tore through the first two ranks, their blood and limbs flying everywhere.

The search party panicked and fell back as a figure came form the forest, his eyes glowing blood red.

"What is that thing?!"

"How the hell did he do that?!"

The figure raced towards them with surprising speed and blade like limbs sliced and impaled the soldiers. They tried to retaliate and attack but the Desians were thrown and impaled on nearby tree limbs. The search party tried to surround it but it did a 360 and they were fiercely thrown back, being smashed into trees and killing them.

The leader quickly readied his weapon and jumped at the creature swinging his sword with a scream on his lips. But just as his sword was about to strike the creature down, he disappeared into smoke.

The Desian leader looked about the forest, wide eyed in fear. His head twitching at every sound, every movement. The creature was nowhere to be found.

"W-WHERE ARE YOU!!!" he shouted.

A dark, whispering voice answered behind him, "Here."

The leader whirled around looked into its blood red eyes and opened his mouth to scream but it was too late.

That was the night the nightmare first set foot on Sylvarant.

**Well, what do you think? I know, much darker than usual, but there will be some lighter moments in the story. And, yes I know this chapter is short but I will try to lengthen them a bit. I'll try to update as soon as I can. But with the holidays all upon us, it may take a while. Anyway, read and review with an open mind. **

**Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I only got one review…just one. Seriously guys! Please send me your reviews! Tell me what you think! It's torture for me man. I really want to know how my story is going!**

**I don't own Tales of Symphonia, just my OCs.**

**6 months later,**

The boat that was carrying the Chosen and her group finally landed in Palmacosta. The young blonde and her companions, save for the silver haired professor and the solemn mercenary eagerly awaited getting off the boat to see the huge city. The professor was as well, but for different reasons.

"Finally, land, thank the goddess…"

Kratos said nothing as he stepped off.

The city certainly held up its name as one of the largest cities in the world. Everywhere there were vendors, bustling crowds, and large buildings everywhere they went. However, they couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about this place. As they were walking through Palmacosta, they noticed that on every building, on every house, iron shutters took the place of wooden ones and the same went for the doors, guards were patrolling the streets regularly, and everyone seemed hurried and had a worried look in their eye.

"Something seems wrong here." Raine slowly stated.

"Indeed" Kratos replied.

Genis inquired "What's with everyone here? Is this some preparation for a Desian attack?"

Raine countered "I'd understand if the heavy fortifications were on the outside walls, but on every individual house? They're defending themselves against something else."

As they were walking they picked up a conversation between two women and two armed men.

"What?! Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, with the injury my horse has got, there's no way we can make it to the House of Salvation before nightfall."

"Damn, this is going to set us back on the pilgrimage again for at least a couple months." The group left with a very depressed tone.

Lloyd scratched his head with confusion "What was that all about? Why did they need to get to the House of Salvation before night?"

"Maybe it was just to avoid the possibility of running into thieves." Genis piped up.

"Those two men seemed well armed enough to deal with any threat presented by just highway men. Something is definitely wrong here." Raine interrupted.

The group walked about the city for a while until they, meaning Collette, bumped into another group quite literally.

"…There she goes again."

"Oooowww! What did you do that for?"

"Oh I'm so sorry!"

The unlucky woman yelled in frustration "Arrgh! The Palma Potion we just received!"

The man immediately zeroed in on Collette "Hey lady, that was a valuable potion! How do you plan on making up for this?"

"I'm sorry. I'll buy another one right away!"

"A replacement?! Do you seriously think that's enough to appease my anger?!"

Lloyd was getting annoyed by the loud mouth "Oh come on, now you're just sounding like an idiot."

The loudmouth was fuming "What did you say?! Do you have any idea who we are?!"

"And I should care because?"

One of the women finally intervened "Will you stop this? I'd like to get out of here before sunset if you don't mind."

The other woman nodded "Agreed just let them buy the potion. We're wasting too much time as it is."

The man snorted "Bah, you're lucky this time. Just hurry up and get that potion, and don't take all day!"

With that the group hurried to the nearest tool shop. Inside, they found two Desians arguing with the young store clerk.

"Oh, please! There's no way anyone would sell those to you at a price that low!"

The one Desian snorted "You're lucky we're even willing to spend money for goods from a rundown shack like this."

"I don't need to hear that from a bunch of filthy Desians! I'm not going to sell one single gel to the likes of you!"

The older woman had a worried look on her face and turned to the younger girl.

"Chocolat, please stop!"

The girl in question turned to her in dismay "But mom, these are the same monsters that took grandma away!"

The Desian was getting angry "You've got some nerve talking to us like that, little girl! You keep that up, and we can't guarantee what'll happen to you or this city."

He only got angrier as Chocolat was getting smart "Just try it! As long as Governor-General Dorr is around, we'll never submit to the like of you! Besides," she gave them a smug look "You can't go a few steps outside the ranch without being afraid of the dark."

"You little-."

"Stop." The second one interrupted "We'll exceed our quota for this year. We need permission from Lord Magnius to go any further. Besides, we're wasting too much time as it is. Sunset's coming and the ranch gates close after dark."

His partner backed down and he gave her a sneer "Depending on Lord Magnius' mood, you may or may not get to keep that pretty little head. And just to let you know, we're not the only ones that thing is after." With that they left the shop.

"Um, excuse me." Lloyd caught her just as she was going out "What's this whole deal with night and outside? Is there something going on out there?"

Chocolat looked at him in surprise "Wait you never heard of it?"

"Heard of what?" An unknown voice rang.

The group turned to the entrance where a boy was standing. He looked like he was in his early twenties with dark brown hair that partly covered one of his eyes and a gray cloak and hood. Underneath the cloak there were various pouches and pieces of armor, and around the belt there was a knife in a sheath. Lloyd also thought he saw a bow and quiver behind his back.

Chocolat had a look of surprise "What are you doing here Victor?"

He turned to her with a smile "Hey Chocolat, just saw the hounds leave, I was wondering if they took anything."

She scowled at him "What, so you can take it for yourself?"

He had a look of mock pain "Why I'm hurt Chocolat, you know I don't steal from you…usually."

"Rrgrh! It's always the same with you!"

The group looked on at this little squabble with Lloyd wondering what went on between the two of them, Genis wanting to get out of here and Colette wanting to end any conflict that was coming up.

"Um, excuse me?" Lloyd interrupted. The two turned to him with an annoyed expression "What?!"

"Uh, weren't you going to tell us what was going on at night around here?"

The one named Victor, apparently having forgot his argument with the young girl, turned to him with a surprised look on his face. "Wait, you have no idea about… it?"

"Um…no?"

Chocolat gave an angry huff "I was just about to tell them about it before you barged in here!"

Victor turned to her with a smile "Let me do it, I'm much better at it than you are."

"Hey!"

He ignored her and turned to the group taking a deep breath. "It all started six months ago. One night, there was a huge explosion you could practically hear all over Sylvarant. The morning after, a few troops were sent out and what they found were…Desian bodies."

The group gasped in surprise "T-they were all dead?" Genis shakily asked.

Victor snorted "Massacred is a better word. There wasn't a single one that wasn't missing a limb or a head. Actually, my mistake there were, they were just impaled on tree branches." The entire group gave a gulp.

"A few days later, the governor general got a search party around to see what was the cause of it. They didn't hear anything for days. Finally on the seventh day they sent out another search party to find them and, well, they found them alright, in no better condition than those Desian bodies were."

At this point, Genis started to tremble in fear. "At that point, out of total fear, Governor General Dorr got some of the best of the militia to go out and kill whatever the hell is out there, that night you could hear the screams of the soldiers out there and see the fire from the ocean. They found the bodies of the soldiers, mutilated of course, but that's not all. A few miles up the land, there was a Desian division in the same state that the soldiers were in. This monster was killing indiscriminately."

Lloyd gaped "This thing is so strong that it can destroy two armies?"

"That's not the biggest part of it. Y'see, they've noticed something in the killings. Even though the bodies are all torn up, there wasn't a single drop of blood anywhere. And another thing, wherever there's a corpse, its head is either lopped off or its heart is pierced. This monster is actually smart enough to be methodical with its killings."

Lloyd looked pretty freaked out at the moment, Genis was shaking uncontrollably, and Collette looked more worried than ever before. "If I were any of you, I'd wait until morning to head out, because when night comes, the cities gates shut and no one's getting in or out." Victor took a look at some of their faces, then smiled. "But don't worry alright? All you have to do is just bide your time at an inn, then head out at dawn."

He patted Lloyd on the shoulder "Take care, all right?" then he brushed past Genis and Collette and headed outside.

"He seems really nice." Collette chirped.

"Yeah, I don't know why she was so hostile to him." Genis piped up.

"Yeah! So anyway," Lloyd stepped forward to the counter "We need to but a palma potion please.

"Of course." Cacao smiled "That will be 2500 gald please."

"Sure ahh…huh?" Lloyd fumbled around his clothes "Whe-where is it?"

"What's wrong Lloyd?" asked Genis.

"My gald pouch, it's gone!"

"What!?"

At that instant, Collette and Genis fumbled around their clothes. "H-hey, mine's gone to!" Genis yelped "Oh no, did I loose mine?" asked Collette.

"Dammit Victor!" Chocolat yelled. Everyone just looked at her. "This is why I was angry towards him, he's a thief, and a really good one too." She explained. "He's infamous for pick pocketing and breaking and entering. The only reason he's not in prison is because the government is too afraid of Desians and the Thing to be worried about him."

"Why that little… I'll kick his ass!" Lloyd headed for the door.

"Don't bother," Chocolat stopped him "He never stays in one place for too long, chances are he's probably out of the city by now. Anyway, I'm off to work now mom." She stepped outside.

"Take care dear."

Chocolat turned back to Lloyd and the others. "I'm really sorry about this. If I ever see him again, I'll be sure to straighten him out for you. Anyway, take care." And with that she left.

"I'm very sorry about this." The group turned to Cacao "Victor is a little fallacious, but he's good at heart."

"Doubtful…" muttered Genis.

"Anyway how about I give you this potion free of charge?" the group gapped at her offer "Oh, no, we won't impose on you…" Collette started.

"No no, it's quite alright." The woman smiled "Please accept this as an apology."

"O-okay, thanks" said Lloyd. The three took the offer and hurried out. They soon met with the group that was the cause of all the events.

"Finally! You brats sure took your time!" shouted the abrasive man.

Lloyd glared at him "You know, you should be grateful, we had our money stolen for this."

The caustic man laughed "Hahaha! You had your money stolen?! Don't you brats have any experience at all? Least we keep our gald sa-" he froze as he patted where his gald was supposed to be. "Wh-what the…" he patted his body furiously "What the hell?! All my money's gone!"

At this point, all his companions began checking themselves, to find dismay when all their gald went missing.

"Wait, please tell me we still have what the governor gave us." One of them piped up.

The leader rifled around in his bag "No!!!" he shouted "It's gone!"

"What?! How could you lose something so valuable?!"

"It's not my fault! It-it must have been…that hooded guy that bumped into us!"

"Wow, that Victor sure works fast." Genis muttered unheard by the ranting man.

"I'll kill him! I'll kill that son of a-"

"Enough!" the female leader shouted "It's almost sunset already. Let's just get out of here."

The loud male grumbled a curse and sulked off with the rest of his team. Lloyd and the others just stared after.

"I'll give that Victor one thing, he's pretty good at what he does." Lloyd commented. Colette and Genis nodded at his comment.

"There you are."

The group turned to see Raine and Kratos walking up to them. "What have you three been doing?"

"Uhh, well about that..." Lloyd looked embarassed.

A brief explanation later, Raine was almost foaming at the mouth. "How could you possibly lose all of our money!?'

"I didn't lose it! This guy stole it." Lloyd tried to explain. The professor was about to throttle him and probably would, had Kratos not decided to intervene.

"Your carelessness aside, I am more concerned about the news of the creature that is said to be lurking outside."

Raine regained her composure. "Yes, that news is most disturbing."

The group looked worried at that. This threw a major roadblock in the world regeneration plans. If there really was such a creature, which everyone thinks there is, then it would only be safe if the group moved during the day and stayed inside towns during the night.

"If the creature is actually intelligent as this Victor says it is, it would probably be safe to stay in the inn and wait until dawn to head to the next seal."

The group agreed, with Lloyd groaning about the fact that he would have to wake up extra early for this.

Elsewhere, Victor was laughing and tossing his well stolen prizes. "Man." he chuckled "Those suckers were way too easy. Those guys back at the shop had some money, but those assholes I bumped into were loaded. They even had this." he took out the precious book. "The old man's been wanting to get his hands on this for a while. I'm sure he'll pay a very nice price for this, the old pervert." he smiled to himself, then suddenly checked the sky.

"Hoo boy, getting late. Better pick up the pace if I want to get back in time." With that he hurried off.

Unbeknownst to the young thief, a pair of gleaming red eyes were watching him...

**Well that's it for now folks. Like I said, REVIEW! At least I'll know that I'll have some people interested in my story. Thank you very much.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys, I'm back for another one. Just to let you know, this plays out after the group releases the seal of water but before the Desians attack Palmacosta. I don't know how anyone else played it but that's what I did.**

**Read chapter 1 for disclaimer.**

After the ride back from Thoda Geyser, the group headed up towards Hakonesia Peak where the next seal was supposed to lie beyond. As they neared the summit, the Chosen's group came upon a small cottage surrounded with junk ("Artifacts!" Raine angrily reminded them) and what looked like an archery range around the back. The targets were wooden torsos with various pieces of Desian armor. Arrows were seen in vital spots throughout the targets.

"Wow, I wonder who's been practicing here?" asked Lloyd.

"Hey, I remember that Victor guy having a bow. Do you think he lives here?" piped Genis.

"Maybe, I don't…"

Any further musings were cut off as the group heard loud shouting coming from the house. As Lloyd and the others drew closer, the voices sounded familiar to them.

"I'm telling you one last time. Give. It. Back!"

"And I'm telling you one last time. No. Way. In hell!"

Lloyd, Genis, and Colette slowly looked in the cottage to find the rude group they ran into earlier, Victor, and a nervous looking old man. "Victor, don't tell me you stole this form the government." the old man apprehensively asked.

The thief in question snorted " 'Course I didn't old man, it was already stolen and when stolen property is out in the open, it's anybody's game. You know that." the old man only groaned.

"We didn't steal that!" the loud man shouted.

"No? Then explain to me how you just got a valued piece of government property without lifting it from the governor general."

"I'll have you know, Dorr gave this to us." the loud man puffed out his chest with pride "We are after all escorting the chosen."

Lloyd and Genis's jaws dropped while Colette had a look of surprise on her face, they were impostors! Victor on the other hand, didn't seemed phased at all, he just gave the group a flat look and simply said "Prove it."

"Uh...wait, what?"

"You heard me, prove it. Which one of you is the chosen?" The girl in the middle tentatively raised her hand. "Uh, I-I am."

"Okay," he stepped towards her "So, according to what I've heard you're supposed to have a crystal of some sort. Where is it?"

"Uh, W-well," she looked away "I lost it somewhere..."

"Uh-huh," Victor said unconvincingly "Do you remember where?"

"Victor please, stop interrogating the chosen!" the old man shouted.

"Not until she proves to me she is the chosen!" he shouted back, then turned back to the girl in question. "Where did you lose it?"

"I...look I can't remember everywhere I've been okay? Just give us back that book and we'll just be on our way."

"Not until you prove to me you're the chosen."

"She can't..." Raine interrupted "Because we are escorting the chosen."

The people in the cottage looked in shock as the group entered the treasure filled room. "More chosens?" the old man muttered.

"Y-you're all impostors!" the loud one shouted, "We are escorting the real chosen!"

"Now you're really starting to piss me off! You've been doing nothing but taking advantage of us and now you're calling yourselves the chosen's group? That's just low!"

The leader growled "I've had just about enough of the mouth of yours!" he angrily stomped over which caused Lloyd to back up a few steps bumping into Colette, which made her fall down and reveal her wings. This made everyone who didn't know Colette back up in total shock, save for Victor whose eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"S-she has wings." the old man stammered.

"Y-you mean she's the chosen?" the group leader nervously asked.

"Huh..." was all Victor could say.

"Y-you're kidding... you mean she's actually the chosen!"

"U-uh," Colette looked rather sheepish "Y-yes I am."

The group of impostors only gapped before the false chosen spoke up.

"F-forgive us, we had no idea..."

"That's your excuse?" Raine angrily said to the cowards "That's why you decided to impersonate the chosen? Because it never crossed your mind that she MIGHT happen to come here on the regeneration journey?"

The liars had no idea how to respond so they did the only thing that came to their minds, throw themselves at the chosen's feet and beg for mercy. They blubbered out rapid cries of apologies and pleas for forgiveness, quite literally kissing Colette's feet while Victor just looked on laughing his head off.

"The hell are you doing?" Lloyd kicked them away "All you're doing is just making her uncomfortable!"

"Lloyd stop!" Colette yelled. She turned back to the group.

"Um…Look, please don't do stuff like that, okay?" she smiled. "So um…you are sorry you pretended to be us right?"

They nodded furiously.

"Okay!" the girl chirped. "You can go then!"

There was a period of silence, even Victor didn't know what to make of it. But suddenly, the sniveling group bolted out the door faster than anything they had ever seen.

Victor only shook his head in amazement "Boy I get money and a show? This has been a pretty good day for me." he stepped towards the door "Now, if you don't mind me old man, I'm gonna head out-" he was suddenly stopped by the huge arm that belonged to Kratos. "Crap."

"Just a moment." The stoic mercenary spoke "According to Lloyd, you have something of ours."

"Huh?" Victor put on a clueless face. "Don't play dumb with us! You stole our money back on Palmacosta!"

"Victor!" the old man gasped in shock "You stole from the chosen?"

"I didn't know she was the chosen you old perv! 'Sides it's their own damn fault for not keeping their money safe!"

"I don't care about your excuses! Just giver them back their money!"

"Why the hell should I?"

"Because it's the chosen's!"

"I don't care if I stole from Martel herself!"

The unsheathing of a sword interrupted the conversation between the two. Victor slowly turned to see Kratos with his sword out and a glare on his face. "You can either give us back the money or..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" the young thief held up his hands and backed off. "It's not that I don't want to give you back the money or anything, but...I...sorta... spent it already"

"What!" Lloyd shouted "You spent it? All of it!"

"Hey! I didn't know I'd wind up in this situation here, okay? The equipment I need doesn't exactly come cheap!"

"How could you-"

"WAIT!" Genis shouted interrupting the argument "Don't you hear that? There's something going on outside."

The group exited the small house to find a large crowd gathered in front of the gate.

"What the hell..." Victor muttered

Lloyd walked up to a group. "What's wrong."

A woman turned to him "You mean you don't know?"

A man turned to the group along with her "You all would be better off waiting here for a while. No matter what, you should stay away from Palmacosta."

"What happened?" asked Victor

"It seems the Desians are headed for the city!"

"What!"

"Plus, they say the leader of the nearby human ranch, Magnius, is with them."

"Dammit." Victor cursed

"I'm going to wait here until things cool down. You should hold off on going anywhere for a while, too."

"Yeah right, you can stay here and worry, I'm going." Victor headed off

"W-wait, Victor!" Koton called after him.

"I'll be back later old man!" he called back.

"Wait!" the thief turned around to see the chosen's group head toward him. "We're going with you." said the one named Lloyd. Victor sighed and thought about it for a moment before opening his eyes again. "Alright let's get a move on. If we travel fast enough, we can get to the city before they do."

During the trip there, Lloyd had a question burning in the back of his mind that he had to ask.

"So Victor."

"Hm?"

"Why are you so eager to go save Palmacosta?"

"Heh, don't you know Lloyd? That's my hometown we're saving there. Besides, Chocolat and her mom we're one of the few people good to me there so I think it's worth saving."

"Wow, Victor, that's actually pretty noble of you."

"Plus it'd be a huge pain in the ass to keep stealing from the House of Salvation every time, I mean, they have little money as it is, but with me robbing it every day? I'll clean them out!"

"Sigh, Victor…"

When the group got to Palmacosta, they found a huge crowd gathering near the town square. Going there, they saw that the Desians had already invaded and set up and execution post, and the person with the rope around her neck was none other than…

"That's…Chocolat's mom!" Genis exclaimed.

"Cacao!" Victor shouted

Things were about to take a turn for the worse as a large, hulking, dreadlocked figure was making his way towards the center.

"Out of the way! Lord Magnius approaches!"

As the large, red-haired half elf was walking through the crowd, a man spoke in total fear.

"It's Magnius from the eastern ranch!"

Unfortunately for him, the Desian leader heard him, gripped his neck and held him high above his head.

"That's LORD Magnius, vermin!"

There was an audible snap and the man went limp. A desian guard spoke up drawing the crowd's attention away from the brutal scene.

"This woman defied the wishes of the great Lord Magnius and refused to provide us with supplies. Therefore, while the designated death count has been exceeded, we have been granted orders to carry out this woman's execution!"

"Oh, of course, they'll make more room in their schedule for an execution." Victor muttered darkly.

"Dammit! Why isn't the city militia doing anything to stop this?" Lloyd said through gritted teeth.

A man turned to him with a sad expression on his face. "Most of them are out on patrol right now."

"The Desians must have waited for this opportunity. Slimy jerks!" Genis said angrily.

"I have a few other choice words to describe them, but yeah" Victor added. Just then, Chocolat's voice sounded, "Mom!" Looking towards the direction of the voice, the group saw the young girl approach the execution scaffold when a guard spoke up.

"Stop right there, woman! If you interfere, we'll make you suffer in ways that will leave you begging for death!"

"You think Governor-General Dorr will let you get away with this?" she fired back.

Magnius had a look of amusement before throwing his head back and laughing. "Dorr? Hahahaha! Don't get your hopes up, woman!"

There was a look of total and utter despair on Chocolat's face. "No!"

"Lloyd." The swordsman in red turned to look at Victor. "I have a plan, you go and distract Magnius and his soldiers, I'll sneak into one of the alleyways and take him out with one of my arrows." he brought out his bow from his back. "With their leader down, they'll have no choice but to leave the city."

"I see..." Lloyd nodded and smiled at him "Good plan! Let's..."

"Hold it!" the professor stopped them both. "Both of you stop! Lloyd do you really want to turn this city into the next Iselia?"

Victor quirked an eyebrow at the mention of the village 'Iselia?'.

"It's not the same! This city doesn't have a non-aggression treaty with the Desians! How can we go on a quest to regenerate the world if we can't even save the people standing right in front of us?"

"Lloyd's right!" Colette added "I won't just stand here and let this happen!"

"Look at least we're doing something. If you're really content to just sit back and let this happen, then you know what? You're no better than the Desians!"

Raine was taken aback by his insult and opened her mouth for rebuttal, but she closed it and heaved a sigh "I give up. You're all hopeless… But I'll help, since I'd be worried about you otherwise."

Lloyd gave a huge grin. "Professor Sage, thanks!"

"Okay, are we all in agreement here?" Victor said impatiently "Good, now if you don't mind, I'll be doing what I do best." He turned around and snuck off. "Besides robbing people blind." He added.

As Victor crept into an abandoned alley nearby, he heard a loud cry of "Demon Fang!" and a few Desians thrown back. 'Well, that's one way to get their attention.' he thought. He picked out a hiding spot behind two crates. He knocked an arrow in his bowstring and slowly pulled it back. What he heard next however almost made him release early.

"…You! You're wanted criminal #0074…Lloyd Irving!"

'Criminal?' Victor silently thought.

"Well, now! So you're that boy with the Exsphere! Hahahaha!" Magnius laughed. "This is perfect! After I take that Exsphere from you, they'll make me the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals! Get them!"

"Wow, Lloyd's a lot more popular with these hounds than I thought." Victor muttered. "But anyway, back to business." He pulled back his bowstring and took careful aim at Magnius' head. He closed his right eye and focused. Now Victor didn't pay too much attention to it, but when he focused with his left eye, everything seemed to become much clearer, dark areas were lit up, tiny details became as clear as day, and he could almost zoom in on his intended target.

However, just as he was about to let go, his peripheral vision caught something to the side. A child was throwing rocks at nearby guards, which in turn was making them angry and they began to stomp over towards the child, chances are, they weren't going to let him live.

"Aw, c'mon kid not now." Victor angrily muttered. He looked to the soldiers nearing the child and then over to Magnius barking orders to his men. His eyes flitted back and forth from one spot to the other before sighing and changing his aim. "Dammit."

The Desian that almost grabbed the child by his neck suddenly had an arrow going clean through his throat. He grasped his throat where the projectile was protruding and gurgled before collapsing to the ground. His partner looked at the dead body in alarm and turned around searching for the attacker. Victor shot another arrow through the Desian's visor, hitting him square in the eye and killing him instantly.

Victor quickly pulled another arrow out of his quiver, but as he knocked it, a Desian lieutenant noticed the soldier crumple to the ground and looked at Victor's hiding spot.

"Archer!" he alerted the others "There's an archer in the alleyway!"

Victor quickly took him out and gritted his teeth, he decided that since his cover was blown, he might as well come out. He ran out of the alley and took a quick shot at Magnius. However, the Grand Cardinal saw him and raised his axes to deflect the arrow.

"You worthless idiots! How could you not spot him?" he shouted "Grr, Nevermind! I'll take care of this woman first!"

He rushed over to the lever with the cover of his guards obscuring Victor's shot and pulled the lever. The platform dropped with Cacao struggling for air.

Victor could only watch helplessly as Cacao was suffocating, due to the approaching Desians. "Shit…"

Suddenly a chakram flew and cut the rope. Cacao fell to the ground without too much harm.

All heads turned towards the blonde haired chosen, in Magnius' case, he gaped. Then, out of nowhere, the grim mercenary with a killer glare, Kratos, if Victor remembered correctly, came up from behind and took a vicious slash at Magnius.

"Let us respect the wishes of the chosen." was all he said. This mamaged to instantly get the people chattering madly.

"The Chosen?…"

"She is the Chosen?"

"The Chosen herself has come to save us?"

Victor quickly took advantage of the distraction and rejoined the group. "Why the hell didn't you kill Magnius when we gave you the chance?" Lloyd said through gritted teeth.

"Oh I'm sorry, would you rather I just let a kid die?" Victor shot back.

Lloyd's eyes widened a bit and looked at him, then look down guiltily. "Sorry..."

"Look, just forget about it alright?" Victor said more passively, just wanting to let go of the frustration.

Raine walked up to them with a very displeased look on her face. "Do you all realize what you're doing? If you defy the Desians, this city may be attacked just like Iselia."

"That's right! And I know full well what I'm doing! I won't repeat the same mistake again. I'll destroy them all, the entire ranch!" That caught even Victor off guard. He knew Lloyd hated the Desians, who didn't? But to actually saying that you will take out an entire ranch, and he knew he meant it, you'd have to be super pissed.

'Note to self' he thought 'Ask the others about Iselia.'

Raine meanwhile was trying to console the red clad swordsman. "Lloyd, that's insanity."

"They're only after Colette and me anyway." he reasoned "And besides, we have the Chosen on our side! The savior who will regenerate the world! Right, Colette?"

She turned to him and smiled. "Yup! I'm going to fight for everyone's sake."

The people behind her still continued their praises of lady Colette's compassion and concern, how she was Martel's gift to the world. Which really, just annoyed Victor. 'Alright, alright, we know she's the freakin Chosen, geez!'

Raine looked like she was going to say more, but then closed her eyes and heaved a defeated sigh. " I give up. You're all hopeless… But I'll help, since I'd be worried about you otherwise."

Lloyd turned to the elf with a huge smile "Professor Sage...thanks!"

Meanwhile, Magnius was almost foaming at the mouth, with all the distractions that got in the way. "Damned little…enough of this crap! I'm leaving them to you. Get rid of them!"

Victor wasn't sure how he did it, but all of the sudden, there was a bright flash of light and Magnius suddenly vanished from the scene. However, he'd have to contemplate how he pulled off that trick later. Right now, Desians were rushing towards the group, and they didn't look happy.

Lloyd, Collette and Kratos charged forward while Genis and Raine hung back preparing their spells. Victor took a quick shot at a soldier, but his aim was a little off, and his arrow sunk into the Desian's right shoulder. The soldier in question howled in pain, then furiously looked at the thief. 'So much for ranged combat.' Victor thought as he tucked his bow behind his back and drew his dagger.

Now, many have scoffed at Victor's choice of close range weapon. After all, the world was a dangerous place out there, but Victor reasoned that all in all, it's not the size of the weapon, it's how you use it.

The wounded Desian took a massive diagonal swing at Victor, but he easily ducked past it and stabbed him in the back of his neck. When he looked ahead, he saw two more soldiers rushing at him. Victor grunted and dropped into a ready stance. He decided to attack first, rushing forward and making an underhand stab attempt, the soldier however blocked his attack and gave him an overhand slash, cutting his cheek. Victor quickly backed away, then narrowly dodged the second swing by the soldier's partner. Victor gritted his teeth and charged at the first Desian who slashed at him again.

He ran his dagger along the descending blade, slowed it down enough for him to doge it and thrust his dagger in the Desian's throat. He followed by pushing the gurgling body into his surprised partner. When the soldier stumbled back, Victor got in close and gave him three hard stabs in the torso.

The soldier collapsed to the ground in a heap and Victor took a deep breath, feeling rather proud of himself. He then heard a loud slash and the sound of a body falling to the ground. He whipped around to see Kratos standing over a third soldier who was trying to sneak up on Victor.

"Don't get too overconfident." The red haired mercenary spoke. "One can easily let one's guard down in that state."

Victor felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment and anger, he shot a glare at the mercenary who was telling him how to do HIS job.

"Y-yeah, well…" his eyes caught sight of a Desian spell caster about to send a fireball Lloyd's way. "You missed one too!"

At first glance, one would have guessed that the thief would never make it, considering the fact that the Desian was on the other side of the town square, but Victor crouched down, held his blade out to the side and activated his combat arte.

"_Shadow Step!"_

In an instant, the young thief was behind the magician who was holding his neck, blood spurting between his fingers. The half elf fell to the ground, dead and Victor heaved a sigh sheathing his bloody dagger. "Boy that takes a lot out of me."

He made the effort to look up and see how the battle was playing out. Lloyd was holding up rather well for himself, the young swords man having felled three Desians. The Chosen, wings and everything, took out another three guards, more than he would've thought. The little pipsqueak Genis actually did pretty damn well considering his age. He held his own with magic pretty well. Victor looked over to the mercenary Kratos and almost gapped at what he saw. The guy took out five well trained soldiers, no cuts, no bruises, not even a bead of sweat.

"Son of a…"

He bit down and turned away angrily. "Why are the strong ones all arrogant assholes..?"

Later after the cleanup of the town square and the straightening of thing with local authorities. The Chosen's group plus the thief were gathered in Cacao's house.

"Thank you so much for saving my mom! I don't know what I would have

done if they'd murdered my mom as well…" the young shopkeeper said.

"As well?"

Cacao nodded sadly "My husband volunteered in Governor-General Dorr's army…and was killed in a battle against the Desians. And my mother…was taken to the ranch."

Victor looked downcast. He remembered that time, Chocolat and Cacao closed the shop for a week and didn't speak to anybody, not even him.

"It was Grandma that originally founded our shop." Chocolat continued "We have to protect it, not just for ourselves, but also for Grandma's sake, for when she returns." She finished with a sad but hopeful look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I'd better get going soon. It's almost time for the next Asgard pilgrimage."

Lloyd had a confused look. "Asgard pilgrimage?"

The young storeowner explained "I work at the Church of Martel Travel Agency." She suddenly waved her hands dismissively. "But it's not like I believe in Martel or anything."

Her mother turned to her and gave her a sharp accusing look. "Chocolat! How could you say such a thing?"

She gave an exasperated sigh "I know, I know. I'm grateful for the Chosen. But Martel didn't protect Dad or Grandma, she didn't even protect those soldiers from the thing outside. Even this time, it wasn't Martel, but the Chosen and her companions that saved Mom. How can anyone believe in a goddess that sleeps while we suffer?"

Collette stepped forward, hands pressed together as if in prayer. "I can understand, but I still think Martel exists."

Chocolat's head perked up. "You really think so?"

"I'm sure of it." The chosen smiled "She exists inside you and me."

Chocolat looked back down for a moment. "Well…if the Chosen says so…then I'll at least try to believe."

Victor made a noise that sounded like a "psh" and got up from leaning on the wall. "Not me" he clearly stated. "I'm a non-believer and proud of it. From what I can see, Martel is just a lazy woman sitting on her ass while everyone does her dirty work for her."

That almost seemed to take everyone aback. Collette gasped putting her hands over her mouth at Victor's language at the goddess. Chocolat had an embarrassed look. Lloyd and Genis were rendered speechless. Raine had an angry look on her face while Kratos' eyes narrowed dangerously into slits.

"Victor!" Cacao spoke "How can you say that in front of the Chosen?"

"Hey, it's just from what I see around nowadays. If this so-called goddess really cared about the people here, she would have done something about it already. Not that it's my business."

"B-bu-but," Genis stammered "Don't you care about the World Regeneration at all?"

"Look, kid I know it sucks. Crops dying, rivers drying up, and of course I hate the Desians, who doesn't? But it's none of my business and I don't want it to be any of my business."

"Don't you have any morals at all?" Raine shot him a disgusted look.

"Oh that's rich, coming from the lady that wanted Cacao to die just because it would be inconvenient if we got spotted." Victor gave her a sour look.

"That was a completely different situation!" Raine shot back.

The young thief snorted dismissively "Whatever." He then turned back to Chocolat. "I wouldn't even bother heading out today, Chocolat, no one ever really goes out anymore due to the thing out there lately."

The young girl had a rather downcast face. "I know, business has taken a really big hit lately. Some travel agents are even speculating that it'll close."

"Yeah well," he pulled out a small sack of coins "It 'aint much, but, here's a little contribution to keep things going."

"Oh!" she accepted the sack rather sheepishly "Thanks Victor." She gave a small smile.

"Eh, sure, I'll be going…" a strong hand shot out and gripped his shoulder "…now?"

Victor once more looked up into the face of the ever stoic mercenary. "Not so fast." Kratos spoke. "We still haven't resolved the issue of you stealing from us."

A look of realization dawned upon Chocolat and she angrily stomped forward to Victor. "Hey, that's right! You give these people back their gald right now!"

"Ugh, I told you already, I don't have it! I spent it all on supplies and rent, that old man is a real miser ya know!"

Lloyd stepped forward. "But what about that gald you handed her just now?"

"I got that from those dead Desians back there." The thief defended.

"So you spent the money. All of it?" Chocolat aggressively asked.

Victor's confident stance faltered a little and his eyes started to shift from left to right. "Ye-yeah."

"Are you sure you didn't gamble any of it?"

The thief's eyes shifted even faster. "Victor…" she said warningly.

He finally broke down. "It's not gambling if it's a sure thing!"

"Argh! I knew it!" Chocolat slapped her head in exasperation. "You just cannot control yourself, can you?"

"Chocolat, it's not my fault! That wolf was a sure winner, anyone could have seen that! Someone must have slipped something in his food!"

"I don't care about the wolf! This is the third time this week!"

"I could have doubled my profits!"

"I don't care!"

The Chosen's group, unnoticed by the two, looked on at the squabble dumbfounded. Cacao beside them sighed. "I feared as much." The group looked at her in question and she explained.

"Victor is a bit of a compulsive gambler. He bets on everything from card games to dice to monster fights. Chocolat and I have tried talking him out of it but, well, we've had little avail as you can see."

The group looked back at the arguing pair. "Stealing, looting, gambling," Raine sighed "This boy really has no morals at all."

"Regardless," Kratos' baritone voice penetrated the argument. "This doesn't change the fact that you still owe us money."

"Look, I don't have any left, what do you want me to do about it?" Victor huffed indignantly.

"Well, seeing as you can't pay it off, I suppose there is no other option than prison for you." Said Raine.

Victor got the shivers at the word "prison". If the people would know he stole from the Chosen, he'd go straight to jail with no trial at all. And there were criminals in prison that he stole plenty from.

Criminals that would be _very _happy to see him, and kill him. The guards wouldn't care, that would just mean one less criminal to worry about. Victor had to think fast because Kratos and Lloyd already had their swords drawn and were stepping towards him.

"Okay, okay, okay, WAIT!" the thief quite literally had his hands up and his back up against the wall. "What if I… go with you on the journey of regeneration?"

That made Kratos stop. "Excuse me?"

"You gotta be joking." Piped up Genis. "You stole from us just yesterday and now you expect us to just let you go with us?"

"Ummm… yeah?" all he got was a bunch of flat looks. This wasn't going well.

"Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot here, but I'm willing to make up for my mistakes. I can help you guys out a lot." They still looked unconvinced.

"Really? Just what can you do?" Raine asked flatly.

"Well, I'm an expert scout, a pretty damn good treasure hunter, if there was an opening I could even sneak into a human ranch undetected, and though I don't like to boast," though the look on his face said otherwise "I'm probably one of the best archers in Sylvarant. So! Whaddaya say?"

The group still however looked unconvinced. "I don't know…" Lloyd slowly said.

Victor was sweating under his hood, this wasn't looking good for him. He was about to panic when Chocolat stepped in with a sigh.

"Look, I know Victor can be greedy, conniving, and just downright stupid when it comes to gambling…"

"Chocolat, you're not exactly helping here." He whispered. She raised a hand to stop him.

"But, as much as I hate to admit it, he's got a good heart. I promise if you give him a chance, he won't go back on his word."

The group was silent until Collette spoke up. "Well, if Chocolat says so, then he must be okay!"

Lloyd relented "I…alright."

"I still don't trunst you!" Genis angrily piped up.

"I still don't think this is a good idea, but I suppose I'm outnumbered." Raine said with a sigh.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him." Kratos spoke, which made Victor shoot him a glare. 'I'm not a friggin five year old.' He thought.

The young thief then turned turned to Chocolat with tears in his eyes. "Bless you girl! You're an angel!" he cried over dramatically. The young shopkeeper in question rolled her eyes. "Don't get carried away, I just did that because I know you wouldn't survive a day in jail."

"Heh heh, you got that right." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. The thief turned to the rest of the group. "Well, now that that's settled, where do we go from here?"

"The old man you were staying with on Hakonesia Peak has the Book of Spiritua. We'll find our next destination from there." said Raine

"Ah, right, back to the old man."

"It's late as it is already." Kratos spoke. "We'll stay at the inn, then head out at the crack of dawn."

"Umm, I'm more of a crack of noon kind of guy..." everyone sent a glare Victor's way. "But dawn's fine."

The pilgrims of regeneration and their one new member retired to the inn for the rest of the evening, unbeknownst to them that a looming shadow carefully watched them, witnessing every event that happened that day and in the blink of an eye, soundlessly retreated into the woods...

**Ah, this chapter is finally done! School's starting over here (ugh) so I'll probably be writing more often, considering I don't have the distractions of summer anymore (Like playing videogames till one in the morning). Does anyone else find it harder to write during the summer? Anyway, senior year, whooooooooo! 179 more days and I'm outta here!**

**Ah, enough of the rant, please read and review!**


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